The present invention relates generally to devices, systems and methods for material fixation. More specifically, the present invention relates to techniques that can be used to firmly hold a soft tissue or graft against bone tissue within a bone tunnel.
It is known that the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is comprised of two bundles, the anteromedial (AM) bundle and the posterolateral (PL) bundle. However, the traditional transtibial ACL reconstruction re-creates only the AM bundle, and recent data has shown that this may not restore normal rotational knee kinematics. In order to address this deficiency in rotational stability, surgeons have developed techniques to reconstruct both the AM and PL bundles of the ACL, comparing the double bundle reconstruction. These techniques, which require the to placement of two tibial and two femoral tunnels, increase the complexity of the operation, and this may result in increased complications and compromise revision surgery. In addition, the size of the tibial footprint may be prohibitively small in some patients, making it difficult to create two anatomic tunnels.
What is needed, therefore, are improved methods which do not require the creation of multiple tibial and/or femoral tunnels to achieve placement of a double bundle tendon graft.